Finding Myself
by MemoryxKeeper
Summary: I have never been able to control anything that has happened in my life, everything has been unexpected, and half the time I don't know what to do.  So how the heck am I supposed to cope with the fact that I'm adopted? Roxas X Namine
1. Shock

X-O-X-O

_Today was the day everything in my life changed…._

X-O-X-O

It was a late spring afternoon, the wind was whistling softly, and the sky was patched up in grey splotches. I was kicking a soccer ball with a few of my close friends, in the front of my house, talking about random things. Mostly about school and soccer, since we were all on the soccer team, and I was excited since I was chosen as this year's captain.

"Roxas, would ya quit dozing on us!"

"Oh!" I kicked the ball to my right hand man Hayner Blake who was the one yelling at me—correct that always yelling at me. He always did have the tendency to make my ears ring a mile away. Although if he wasn't there to yell at me; then I'd probably end up yelling at myself.

"Sorry." I muttered as the ball rolled over to him, making contact with his worn out sneakers. He sighed irritably, but he waved me off, because he knew how I was, always off in la-la land.

"I swear Roxas sometimes I think you have ADD." Hayner said kicking the sphere over to my female friend Olette. She laughed at the spunky blonde's joke as she kicked the ball over to Pence my larger, but intelligent friend.

"Whatever Hayner." I chuckled along as Pence passed the soccer ball over to me. Before I kicked the ball over to Hayner again I coughed on my sleeve of my wind breaker. It always seems like every time the season changes I always get an annoying cold that bugs the snot outta me—pun not intended.

"Roxas, you hack like my grandma." Hayner teased.

"Gee thanks." I said in a raspy tone kicking the ball over to the waiting boy.

"You should do something about that cold." Olette advised "Drink some old fashion Tang to get some vitamin C."

"Yeah, be a good astronaut and get some fluids in your system." Pence laughed heartily.

I cleared my throat "Yeah, yeah…."

"Anyways…" Hayner started as he focused on the ball rolling towards him "How's your sister been, Roxas?"

"Which one?" I asked dumbly.

Hayner rolled his eyes "You only have one, doofus."

"I know—thank god..." I said in relief as I caught the ball with the heel of my sneaker and kicked it "But why do you want to talk about her anyway?"

"Well…lately I've been seeing your sister hanging out with that that jerk Seifer, and I was wondering if you knew about that." He answered as he kept his eyes on the ball that was reeling towards him. I frowned looking down at the grassy ground, in a form of distaste. I knew about my sister's interactions with the town's well-known gang leader Seifer Ward, but I had been trying very hard to not acknowledge it.

"Yeah, I know about it." I told him slowly.

"That guy is bad news." Pence stated as Olette kicked the ball over to him.

"I know."

"So why is she even hanging out with him?" Olette asked giving me a sideways glance.

I shrugged "She thinks that she can change him."

"Pft, that'd take a miracle." Hayner snorted.

Pence nodded "What does she see in him anyway?"

"I don't know nor do I care so would you please pass the ball already?" I pleaded, getting tired of talking about my sister.

Pence kicked the ball over to me, and once I caught the ball under my foot, it was like a creepy déjà vu. Standing on the porch, with her arms folded on the railing was my little sister Namine watching us play soccer. Her short white-blond hair blew into her face delicately at which she pushed the locks of blonde behind her ear. She had wispy bangs, pale skin and bright blue eyes, and she had a nice figure consisting of and a slender waist, and wide hips that weren't too wide. I turned my head away noticing that I was staring at her longer than I thought.

"Well speak of the devil…." Hayner said in a stage-whispered.

_Witch_ I thought but didn't say it instead I asked "What do you want?"

Namine cocked her head to the side, probably surprised by how gruff my voice sounded she said "Mom said that Mr. Hikari fixed your guitar, and that you can pick it up at the shop sometime tomorrow."

I smiled as a parade of happiness flooded through me. I had been waiting for my guitar to get fixed, since last weekend I had accidentally broken a few of my guitar strings while practicing. Ventus—as known as Mr. Hikari slash guitar instructor and repair man; said that it probably would be two weeks before it would get fixed. Since he had a lot of a lot of work to do on other repairs, but luckily for me he got it fixed within a week, which rarely ever happened.

"Great." I said happily turning back to my friends ready to pass the ball again.

"Oh, and one more thing, mom also said that you had to meet up with grandfather tonight." I stopped myself before I kicked, glancing back up at her.

"Tonight?" I questioned "Why?"

Namine merely shrugged "I don't know, she wouldn't tell me."

_That's weird_ I thought, since when did grandpa ever just want to meet up with me or anyone without a plan that fits his schedule? I stood there and pondered for a moment, until Hayner began to snap his fingers in front of my face a few times.

"Huh?" I said snapping out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" Hayner repeated mocking me in a dumber tone "You really do have ADD don't cha?"

"Shut up." I grunted looking over at Namine again she was giggling at Hayner's comment "You can go now."

Namine smiled at me, using that a voice that was dripping with sweetness "Fine, fine see you guys later."

Everyone said goodbye to my sister expect for me. She smiled as us as she walked back into the house, closing the door behind her. I sighed, I always hated how nauseatingly nice she was to everybody she made eye contact with. Why couldn't she just be mean and selfish like the rest of us?

"She's nice." Olette told me pleasantly—I frowned at her.

"She's too nice." I said finally able to kick the soccer ball over to Hayner "I wish she had more spunk in her."

"Whatever, you should be grateful that you don't have a sister like mine." Hayner garbled "She's Cruella De Vil in disguise."

We all shuddered in agreement; no matter how annoying Namine was to me she was nowhere near as terrible as Hayner's sister Larxene. I swear that girl is meaner, than a wild hyena; and she has the scariest most recognizable laugh in the world. I actually think that Cruella De Vil would have a run in for her money if she ever crossed paths with Larxene, and poor Hayner he has to live with her. I'm surprised that he hasn't committed suicide already.

"Hey guys, random fact." Pence began as he kicked up the soccer ball into his hands "Did you know that if you put De Vil together that you get devil?"

We all exchanged confused looks at one another; sometimes it amazes me how Pence's random-useless facts could contribute to a conversation. Hayner rolled his eyes at our chubby friend.

"Pence I swear you have too much time on your hands."

Pence grinned "I take that as a complement."

We all laughed and then we went back to our game for a while, until it was starting to get dark outside. Olette looked up at the sky, and then down at her metallic watch.

"It's getting late, I should probably go home."

"Yeah, me too."

"Same here."

"Okay, guys see ya later." I said waving them off.

"Later Roxas." Hayner said back.

"Bye." Pence said waving as he followed the spiky blonde.

Olette being the last to leave picked up the ball that was lying by her feet, and tossed it over to me, which I caught with ease.

"See ya tomorrow Roxas, and take something for that cold." Olette ordered as she followed after the two boys that were leaving her behind.

I nodded telling her "Don't worry I will."

Then when I turned towards my house, I let out a grotesque cough as I placed the ball under my arm, and began to cough into my sleeve. I walked up the small stair case into the warm sanctity of my comfortable home. The chills that I had before from the outside had faded away. I smiled when I set my windbreaker on a hook, and smelt the air the delicious aroma of my mom's cooking filled my nostrils as I let out a sigh of bliss. I patted my stomach that had been grumbling for some time now.

I walked into the dining room that was right next to the kitchen. I was kind of surprised to see that there was an extra chair at the table. _He's eating here?_ I asked myself as I settled down at my usual spot at the table. _That's kind of weird_ my mind continued rambling, that I almost didn't notice someone setting down a plate in front of me. My eyes followed the person's arm, until I found the arm connected to Namine. She must have not noticed me watching her, because she continued to set the table. Not even realizing that I was watching her every move.

When she finally caught my stare, she quirked an eyebrow at me "What is it?"

"Where's dad?" I asked suddenly noticing his absence. He usually was at his spot at the kitchen table before I even get home. Namine set down some silverware, and then she looked up at me, shrugging her puny shoulders like she did before.

"I'm not sure maybe he's working overtime?"

"Dad doesn't work overtime."

Namine shrugged again and I sighed, as soon as the table was set, my mom came into the dining room carrying a cooked chicken on a platter. It smelt heavenly, after that my mom went back into the kitchen and brought out two pots one with mashed potatoes, and the other with gravy. And then she came out with a basket filled with biscuits. My stomach complained, aching for something to consume. Namine took her spot at the table across from me, and then my mom took her usual spot next to me.

I was about to ask where dad was until he suddenly walked into the kitchen, with an all too familiar old man following behind him—grandpa.

"Thank you for having me over Cloud." He said as he pulled out his chair at the end of the table.

"It's no problem father, we're happy to have you over." My dad said politely as he sat down next to Namine.

Grandpa nodded curtly, and then we all said our greetings to each other. When my mom said it was okay, we all started to dig into the food. I asked Namine to pass the biscuits she gave me a weird look, because normally I would just reach across the table, and get them myself. However I was trying to be as polite as possible, since grandpa was here, and it seemed like he was watching every move I made.

Namine reluctantly passed over the biscuits, after I persuaded her by kicking her shin under the table. She glared at me, and looked at her innocently as I took one of the golden biscuits, and set it on my plate.

"This is a lovely meal you have prepared Aerith." My grandpa started.

My mom smiled, and in a mannerly way she said "Thank you Ansem."

I was startled when his gaze traveled over to my direction. I smiled weakly at him, as I dug my spoon into my mashed potatoes. I kept wondering why he was here, and why he wanted to speak with me. It was just so weird that he'd come over out of the blue, he usually only visited us when it was the holidays. Other than that he never came over—not even for birthdays.

"Roxas…" He began again his voice sober and low pitched "How has school been going for you?"

"Umm, it's been good." I replied carefully "I got on the distinguished honor role, and I got chosen to be the captain of the soccer team."

"My, those are indeed great accomplishments." My grandpa said sounding impressed "Your father must be very proud."

I nodded and looked over at my dad; his eyes were focused on his plate of food eating quietly. My mom looked at my father with concern in her eyes. Namine looked at dad with the same concern, but with a mixture of confusion as well. I looked back at my grandfather, whose eyes were still on me.

"Your father also tells me you've been getting guitar lessons." He went on with the same slowness to his voice.

I had to think for a moment to know what he was talking about "Oh, um yeah, Mr. Hikari has been teaching me."

"Hmm, that's nice." My grandfather said in a dull tone, the enthusiasm leaving his voice, causing m the gulp inwardly. _Where is he going with this?_ I wondered as my knees buckled underneath the table.

He then stood up from his seat "Come with me for a moment Roxas there are some things we need to discuss."

Immediately I stood up, I looked at my mom and then my dad, whom sat unmoving like statues. Suddenly I wished that my grandpa would just go home, I then turned to look at Namine. She stared at me looking as perplexed as I felt.

"If you'd excuse us…" My grandpa said before he walked over to the door that led to the garage. I followed him, but I kept looking back at the table yearning to just go back and finish my dinner. When we walked into the garage I shut the door behind me, watching my grandpa as he lit up a cigar. I waited for him to speak, as he inhaled deeply, and then let out a puff of smoke.

Growing impatient I decided to start "So what did you want to talk with me about grandfather Ansem?"

He didn't look at me as he said "I'm not sure if you're old enough or ready enough to hear this." He turned to me "Roxas how old are you?"

"I'm seventeen." I answered.

He nodded turning away again as he flicked some of the sparks off of his cigar. My dad's car was parked in the garage, but there was still room to move around. The garage door was also shut, so I could smell sweet scent of smoke that was leaking from my grandpa's cigar.

I tried hard not to cough.

"I suppose maybe you are old enough to hear." Grandpa sighed he sounded tired. I stood there on the wooden steps shaking, I just had the urge to yell out "What, what do you want to tell me?" However I didn't of course. Instead I stood there like a dope, waiting for him to go on.

He turned to me again, putting out his cigar in the ashtray that was on my dad's work table, which was full of tools and other miscellaneous items. He placed a finger under his bearded chin, like he was trying to think. Then after a moment of thought, he dropped the bomb on me.

"Roxas, you were adopted."

Ka—Boom!

It was almost as if my whole world had crumbled before me, and worst part was that I knew he wasn't lying—He never lied! My teeth clenched as I crumpled onto the stairs, with my face buried into my hands.

"J-Just tell me that this is just some kind of sick joke….." I not realizing I was thinking out loud.

"I wish I could." He sighed "But I can assure you that this is no joke. You were really adopted, and it really was just a strange coincidence that you have such similar features to my family. "

I winced at the words _my family_; it made me feel like a total outsider all of a sudden, like I didn't belong here. I could hear his footsteps walking towards me; I looked up to see him looking down at me. He placed a hand on top of my head, ruffling my dark blonde hair.

"However if you look close enough you can see the differences, you're skin is much tanner, and your hair is a darker shade of blonde." He continued his hand leaving my hair and then going down my face to my chin tipping it up slightly "Even your eyes are a darker shade of blue."

It almost felt like he was condemning my appearance, by telling me all my differences compared to _his_ family. No wonder mom and dad—correct that Aerith and Cloud were so quiet at dinner tonight. I bit my lower lip; I couldn't even comprehend the fact that they weren't even my real parents.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I whispered hoarsely, my head now buried in my arms.

"We figured you'd be ready to hear the truth now." He merely answered.

Well obviously I wasn't, because right now I felt like crying. I chewed on my lower lip, knowing exactly what he meant when he said _'we'_ I wondered if Namine even knew about this. Probably not, she is such a blabber mouth; she was probably as clueless as I was before I found out. I slowly lifted up my head from my arms to look at the old man before me. What was going to happen now? Was I going to be sent to a foster home now? I cringed at the thought, because I heard a lot of rumors about bad foster homes. And how some of the foster parents would beat or molested their adopted children.

I dreaded the very thought.

"So where are you going with this?" I asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Nowhere really, I just believed that it was now or never to tell you this, and that I want you to act as normal as possible, like I said nothing at all." He said folding his arms behind his back with a sober look on his face. I stared at him in bewilderment, how could I possibly act normal when I just found out I was adopted? He slowly walked onto the small stairway that I was sitting on, and with one last serious glance. He said something that almost bothered me more, than the statement about me being adopted.

"After all Roxas you are the favorite."

X-O-X-O

(End of Chapter)

Well everyone that was the first chapter! What did you guys think? Kind of weird, huh? Well all my stories are kind of weird... xD

Anyways I hoped you all liked it, I wish I had more to say, but I'm afraid I'll end up giving stuff away.

So thanks for reading, and I'll have the next chapter out soon!


	2. Fright

X-O-X-O

_Life is like a roller coaster, it takes longer to reach the top than it does to fall to the bottom._

X-O-X-O

After my talk with my grandpa—oh, wait I keep forgetting he's not my real grandpa, because I'm actually adopted! Anyways we went back into the dining room and finished dinner. Then Ansem thanked Aerith for the meal, and then went home, without really saying goodbye to the rest of us. However I didn't really care, I went into the kitchen and began to clear off some of the food scraps off my plate, and into the trash. My mom walked into the kitchen, and as I handed her my plate she asked.

"Roxas, is there anything you want to ask us?"

I didn't even look at her "No." I answered flatly.

She nodded and then she turned on the water faucet. I walked into the living room where I saw Cloud; he was sitting in an arm chair reading a novel. Or so I thought until I looked closely, and saw title of the book. It said _Good Ways to Reach out to Your Adopted Child_, and in disgust I narrowed my eyes. When my dad saw me standing in front of him, he snapped the book closed and set it under the coffee table.

"Hey sport, is there anything you want to talk about?" He asked leaning forward in his chair.

I shook my head, coughing in my sleeve; I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, so I walked upstairs to my room. I flicked up the light, and then sat down at my desk where my backpack was lying—almost forgetting I still had homework to finish. Pulling the black knap sack towards me, I unzipped it and dumped all the contents out of it. Meaning—two books that I've been reading for English, my psychology text book, and a couple of candy wrappers.

I mentally groaned as I flipped open my social studies book, my teacher had assigned for us to do all the key terms on chapter 17 on gender roles, which would probably take an eternity to finish. Since every chapter usually had like thirty or more terms to write long definitions for, I can truly say that it is time consuming and a pain.

As I began to search through the chapter for the first word, I stopped when I heard a light knock at my bedroom door. I spun left on my star-shaped swivel chair to see who it was, since I had left my door open. Standing in the doorway was Namine; she was hugging a book to her chest, waiting to be let in. I turned back to my work, and began to scribble down the definition, trying to look busy as I asked.

"What'd you want?"

I heard her shift the book in her hands as she replied "C-Can you help me with my geometry?"

"That depends, what are you working on?" I coughed as I tried to write. Why was she asking me anyway? Even though geometry was one of my prime subjects, she knew darn well that I'm not a very good teacher. Especially for her, because she's really slow when it comes to math, and I was a very impatient person.

"Proofs." Namine replied holding up her book "Can you help me or not?"

I sighed running my fingers through my hair "No."

"What if I said please?"

I glared at her "Then my answer would still be a no, go ask dad."

Namine pouted "I already tried and he told me to just figure it out."

"What about mom?"

Namine shrugged "I asked her too, but she just ignored me."

"She probably just didn't hear you." I said skeptically "I mean she was doing the dishes."

"But I asked her when she was finished." Namine said frowning I looked up at her from my work with a confused look on my face. I could understand my dad's answer, but my mom completely ignoring her own daughter? No, that could not be right; I narrowed my eyes at Namine, whom was still standing at my doorway. My mom or dad always helped me whenever I was having a hard time with my homework, and I'm the adopted child. So it didn't make sense to me that they would ignore Namine, their own flesh and blood. Soon I began to think about what Ansem had to me before he had left.

"After all Roxas you are the favorite."

What the heck did he mean by that? Favorite what? I shook my head, as a headache began to brew in my head. My eyes were still on Namine, whose eyes shifted almost nervously to the floor. I was pretty sure now that she was lying She was probably lying, because Aerith wasn't type of mom to just blow off her kid when she needed help. However being courteous, I decided to help Namine with her homework anyway.

I held out a hand "Give me your stupid geometry book."

Namine beamed cheerfully as she obliged to my command, and handed me her text book "Thanks Roxas you're the best."

I rolled my eyes "Yeah, yeah….what page are you on?"

"350."

For a little while I helped Namine with her proofs, thankfully I still remembered how to do them. It was frustrating at first, because she didn't understand what I was explaining at first, until I wrote it down. I swear, every time I try to explain something to her I have to spell it out in bold lettering. And let me tell you it wasn't fun, especially since my voice was scratchy like a record. Anyways once she got the hang of it, I kicked her out of my room and finished my own homework up.

Once I was finished I shuffled over to my bed, and practically collapsed with exhaustion. My head was aching terribly; I rubbed my temples, and closed my eyes as I slowly fell asleep. I was so tired, that I didn't even care that my lights were still on in my room.

I slept for a little while, until I started to cough again. It was disgusting I kept on coughing up flem; I was sitting up on my bed pulling tissues out of my Easter Island tissue case. That I bought a while back; the tissues came out of its nose, I looked at it oddly not remembering the reason why I purchased it in the first place. Shrugging off the thought, I threw away the used tissues into the waist basket, and looked out the window.

It was dark outside, and the only lights that were on were street lights, and occasional cars passing by. Speaking of dark, I noticed that my lights in my room were off now. I figured it must have been my mom who turned them off, since my mom was the kind of mom that would check on us before we went to bed. I yawned tiredly, ready to just fall back asleep again, when I noticed a big sleek black truck pulling over by my house.

I squinted at the vehicle; it was hard to see, but I my eyes caught the site of a man with bright, thorny red hair stepping out of the vehicle. He was wearing a long black trench coat beckoning a man that had a blonde mullet to come out of the truck. The blonde was carrying a duffle bag, and he was wearing a black trench coat just like the redhead.

I watched quietly as the two men walked across the street to a giant house; that had been abandoned for years. Since rumors had it that a long time ago a blind girl had been murdered in that house by her parents. Of course it was only a rumor, but still no one dared to live there; much less go inside of it.

I was once dared to go inside of it, when I was a kid, but I chickened out, because I thought I saw a figure by the window. Anywho it was really weird, because usually we're notified if we get new neighbors, but this time we weren't. This made me really curious, I had a weird urge to tell my parents but I didn't. Instead I went back to bed, because I was too tired to care about those guys anymore.

X-O-X-O

The next day I had a fever of 102, and my mom made me stay home, so I was sitting on the couch all day watching Disney movies. I was in the mood to watch horror movies, but my mom wouldn't let me. As I leaned back into the cushions of the sofa, ready to watch _Atlantis the Lost Empire_ again, I kept thinking about how weird it was that I still referred to my adoptive parents as mom and dad still. I mean I really had no reason to anymore, since I'm really wasn't there kid. I was guessing it was because it would be weird to call them Cloud and Aerith, when I've always thought of them as my real parents. I sighed as I watched Milo Thatch put on his grandfather's hat, but it was too big for him so it slid over his eyes. _Well I guess life could be worse_ I thought resting my elbow on the sofa's armrest _I could have no parents at all_.

It was about 3:20 when the movie was over; and not too soon after the movie ended Namine came home. She walked into the living room and plopped onto the sofa next to me. I tried to ignore her as I watched the credits of the movie but I couldn't, because she began to wave a yellow folder in front of my face.

"You who, Roxas your homework…?" She chanted annoyingly.

"Knock it off!" I snapped snatching the envelope out of her hands.

Namine raised an eyebrow at me as she relaxed into the couch "Jeesh, someone's in a bad mood."

"Well if someone was waving a paper in your face while you're trying to watch a movie you'd get irritated too." I stated as a matter of fact, as I began to finger through my assignments.

"Yeah, maybe if it wasn't the credits." Namine teased pointing at the television "I mean honestly who likes to watch the credits?"

I couldn't have agreed with her more there, but I was certainly not going to tell her that "I do."

"Well that's because you're weird." Namine stated as she started to dig into her backpack that was lying on the floor all day "So all you did was sit, and watch Disney films all day?"

"Yeah, and I was enjoying myself, until you showed up." I informed her, as I reached for the remote.

Namine looked up and frowned at me, that sad, pouty frown she always gives me when I've offended her. I rolled my eyes at her as I turned my attention back at the television, and pressed the stop button. Only, because I was getting tired of listening to that sappy song that the credits were playing.

"Oh, and I have some news." Namine began as she brought her backpack into her lap.

"Uh huh…and?" I asked uninterestedly, as I pressed the rewind button on the remote.

"And I think it's important for me to tell you." Namine went on causing me to become agitated.

"Just tell me." I snapped getting tired of her stupid games.

Namine held her hands up in defense as she replied squeakily "I just wanted to tell you we have some new neighbors….Jeesh."

I stared at her "…..New neighbors?"

She nodded "Yep, they're the sons of two of dad's friends."

While, I was leaning my chin into my palm, waiting for the damn movie to totally rewind, I was trying not to look too interested. However I was really wondering if the 'new neighbors' were the same guys I saw creeping around last night. When the movie was fully rewound I looked over at Namine.

"What house by us are they living in?" I asked her as I began to cough again—damn cold.

"Ya 'know that creepy looking house right across from us?"

I nodded stiffly.

"That's where they're living."

X-O-X-O

After a few days of rest, I was feeling much better, my sinuses had cleared up, and my voice wasn't raspy anymore. So now I was off to school again I was mentally thankful that Namine brought home my homework. Since I really didn't want to fall behind, but I'd never admit that. I yawned tiredly, trying to get used to getting up early again.

It was an early crisp spring morning in good old Twilight Town. I could hear kids riding their bikes to school, and some kids walking in groups, laughing together. This made me wish that I had called up Hayner and the crew, so that I could have walked to school with them. However alas I hadn't, because I just had to have that five extra minutes of sleep—I sighed.

Anyways I continued walking on the sidewalk, until I noticed two familiar figures walk past me. The reason I found them familiar was, because I thought I saw a man with thorny, red hair. I looked over my shoulder, and sure enough I saw the two guys I had saw that late night. The two guys were arguing over something, I stopped in my tracks to listen out of curiosity.

"Look Axel like I told you we can't confront the kid yet." The guy with the blonde mullet said in a hoarse, stage whisper.

The redhead glared at the mullet man "You think I don't know that? Jeesh, I just wanted to see if it was actually him."

"Well it was." The blonde snapped "Now let's get outta here."

The redhead grunted, and the two marched off down the sidewalk again. At first I kind of wondered who they were talking about. However the more I thought about it as I walked to school, the more I just didn't want to know. I mean what if they are molesters that are planning on targeting some kid in the neighborhood? Or what if the two guys were a part of a gang, and were plotting an ambush on some poor kid?

I shivered at the thought.

"Roxas!" I heard someone call; I looked over my shoulder knowing exactly whose voice that belonged to. Sora my cherry cousin, he had wild brown hair and bright blue eyes like Namine. He was kind of idiot at times, but he was still my cousin, and I still liked him.

He ran over to me, panting heavily when he reached me, I cocked an eyebrow at him, because he usually doesn't run at me like a lunatic this early. When he finally caught his breath, he straightened himself up, smiling sheepishly.

"So how have you been?" He asked me, as he ruffled the back of his unruly hair. That I must admit was even messier than mine, I shrugged at him, telling him that I've been good, and that I'm happy that I don't have a cold anymore. He nodded in agreement, as we both began to walk over to my locker.

"So I'm guessing you know about the whole adoption thing now?" Sora asked a little bluntly.

"Yeah…." I answered slowly, ignoring the urge to rant.

"It's pretty crazy, huh?" He laughed lightly as we reached my locker.

"Mmhm." I hummed as I turned the combination on my locker.

"Are you mad?" He asked looking at the floor.

"Damn it….." I growled kicking my locker, because I messed up my combination. I l looked over at Sora, whom looked startled, I looked away from him, and began to twist my combination back up to start over.

"Err; I'm sorry you probably don't want to talk about it." Sora said backing away slightly.

"No…it's just—" I rested my forehead against my locker "It's just it's a lot to talk in ya 'know?"

Sora nodded understandingly "Don't worry Roxas; I'll stop talking about it."

I was going to argue with him, because I felt like he was he was pitying me, but then his girlfriend Kairi walked by, and Sora just sort of floated off to lovey-dovey land. Once I opened my locker, the bell began to ring, and everyone—including myself grabbed our needed books and scrambled off to class.

X-O-X-O

After school and soccer practice, I was in a good mood, because I didn't have any homework, and my first day as captain of the soccer team was a complete success! And to celebrate that success my friends and I went out for sea salt ice cream. Most people I know hate the stuff, but I found three people in my life time that happened to love it as much as me. We were sitting on the ledge of a clock tower; that we always sat here when the weather was warm. It was mainly because of the great view, and because it was a tradition of ours.

"I can't believe summer is almost here!" Hayner exclaimed excitedly, almost dropping his treat.

Olette nodded with a grin "Me either, so guys what do you guys want to do when summer gets here?"

"Eat sea salt ice cream of course." Pence chuckled heartily, sucking the remains of his ice cream from the Popsicle stick.

Hayner rolled his eyes at his chubby friend "Pence, no offence, but EATING is all you want to do."

Pence smiled sheepishly "I can't help it food is good."

We all laughed that time, I was glad that I had good friends like these that could keep my mind off the whole adoption thing. Not to mention the weirdo neighbors that moved into that old house. I bit down on my ice cream treat, cursing myself for thinking about that stuff again.

"By the way Roxas did you get your guitar back from Mr. Hikari yet?"

I blinked out of my thoughts "Crap!"

"Geez, I can't believe you forgot." Hayner scoffed "You were complaining about it like crazy last week."

I smiled weakly "Give me a break, I was sick."

"Right, right." Olette laughed "Well you better get it now before he closes his shop."

I nodded to her, getting up from my spot, and waving my friends goodbye before I ran off to the shop. Well that's what I called it, but it is formally named _Musical Destiny_.

Anyways that place was like my second home, when I wasn't at school or playing soccer with my friends. I was there being taught how to play the guitar by the guitar master, also known as the owner of Musical Destiny. He taught me everything I know about music; and how to play songs like _Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple_ and _Paralyzed by Finger Eleven_. I've always looked up to him, and hoped that I'd become a great musician like him someday.

I ran down the sidewalk, until I got to familiar shop that had a huge sign that spelt out MUSICAL DESTINY in large lettering. I grinned as I entered the shop, and saw the man at work. He had spiky dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes; he was tuning up an old Gibson guitar. He held it with steady hands, looking very focused, that I wasn't sure if he realized I had came in.

"You're late." He said adjusted the cream colored knobs slightly.

"Sorry Mr. H." I apologized "I was sick."

He chortled as he set down the guitar "Kid, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Ven."

"I don't know how many times have I called you Mr. H?" I asked sarcastically.

"A lot you brat." Ven laughed, standing up "Now move it, I have a customer."

I grinned at him as I moved out of the way, to look at the cool electric guitars that my mom would never let me get. When the bell from the door dinged, Ven gave his usual greeting to the customer saying "hello how can I help you?" The man answered saying something about a sitar, and I was kind of surprised because I recognized the voice. I turned around slowly, and of course my thoughts were correct it was that mullet guy again.

"Oh, yeah I think it's in the back." Ven indicated "Wait one moment please."

The mullet guy nodded waiting patiently by the counter. I bit my lip, trying my best to look like a normal customer when his gaze traveled over to my direction. I looked around at the other instruments, like pianos, violins, anything to not look suspicious. However I accidently slipped up when I accidently looked over to his direction, and our gazes locked. This is where my plan went down the drain.

"Say aren't you one of my new neighbors?" He asked suddenly causing me to jump.

'Um, yeah…" I trailed looking past the counter, hoping that Ven would hurry up and give this guy his instrument, before he tries to abduct me.

"Cool, so that means you're Roxas…..uh….Coal-men right?"

I nodded chuckling at the way he pronounced my last name "That's right, but it's _Coleman_."

The mullet guy's face flushed as a grin spread on his face "Oops…."

"So who are you?" I asked figuring it would be polite to ask for his name.

"Oh, um my name's Demyx Moore." He replied grinningly.

"Nice to meet you." I said as Ven walked back into the room carrying a dark blue sitar case in his hand.

Ven raised an eyebrow at me and asked jokingly "Roxas are you harassing customers again?"

Demyx and I laughed and I shook my head 'Of course not sir."

He smirked at me in reply to my snarky reply, and lifted the sitar case, and handed it over to Demyx who took the sitar case graciously "That'll be 18 munny please." Demyx dug into his pocket of his denim coat, and handed the munny over to Ventus, who took it and put it into the cash register.

"Thank you and have a good day." Ven said with his usual wave.

Demyx waved back "Thanks you too." And then he turned his attention over to me "See ya around Roxas." I bided him a goodbye and then he left, and then Ven gave me that questioning look again. That's only because I usually didn't socialize with the customers when they came into the shop.

"Well aren't you a social butterfly today." He commented, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"He was the one who started the conversation." I responded leaning over the counter "So can I get my guitar now?"

Ven nodded laughing "Sure, come on in the back."

I beamed as I hopped over the counter, and followed Ven into his work station, also known as _the shop_. He had many guitars, pianos, trombones and other instruments lying around in the back. Most of them were fixed though and placed neatly into their cases. However there were still some that were lying around that still needed to be fixed.

At a small table at the end of the shop was where my guitar laid in perfect condition, in fact better than when I brought it in. I smiled as I excitedly hurried over to Ven to take a gander upon its beauty. Ven chuckled and picked it up, and handed it over to me. I took it into my steady, but callused hands, grinning like a complete idiot.

"So how'd you like it?"

"It's better than when I first left it here." I breathed, putting on my old shoulder strap.

Ven laughed "Try her out."

I strummed the strings, and started to play a tune from one of my favorite songs. It sounded great, it was tuned and I couldn't wait to go home, and play some songs on it.

"Thanks Ven." I said gratefully "How much do I owe you?"

"Eh, it's on the house kid." Ven said dismissingly.

I was almost paralyzed with shock, Ven Hikari never, and I mean never just let me have a free be when he worked on my guitar. Even though I was one of his student, and probably his most loyal customer, he never let me off. I think it was because he wanted to treat every customer fairly; and also because he wasn't the richest guy on the planet. So it was kind of a surprise that he'd actually let me bring home my guitar—this nice, without paying a single cent.

I knew for sure that my mom wasn't going to let me get away with this if she ever found out. I grimaced at the thought of my mom preaching to me, about how I should be paying my way. So I figured I should make it easier on myself, than to end up marching back over here, with a formal letter explaining why I was thankful with a check.

"Nah, I can't." I said starting to rummage into my pants pocket "My mom would have a cow if she ever found out."

Before I started counting up the rest of my allowance Ven spoke up "Kid, kid just save your money, its fine, and if your mom says anything, just tell her that you paid me."

I stopped counting up my change, and looked up at him "You want me to lie?"

"That would be correct." Ven nodded.

"Weren't you the one that taught me that lying gets you nowhere?" I asked quirking a brow.

"In circumstances like these, lying would be nice." Ven replied smoothly.

I smirked, knowing him all too well "You just don't want to get hounded by my mom."

Ven smiled "Is just once quiet day too much to ask for?"

"That's for her to decide, if she ever finds out that is." I chuckled and he laughed as well.

"Well I'm going to be closing up so…..not to be rude but…." Ven smiled "Get out of my store."

"Fine, later Ven, and thanks for fixing my guitar." I said waving as I left the shop, and he waved back saying bye as well. After that I went home with my guitar on my back. The streets were quiet, as they usually were, with most cars parked in their driveways, which included my family's vehicle as well.

As I walked onto my driveway I noticed Namine walking down the sidewalk, with that idiot Seifer by her side. His cronies were with them as well, I narrowed my eyes at the sight of that sleazebag's arm draped around Namine's shoulders. It was such a disgusting sight that it made me want to heave.

He walked solo with her up to the doorstep, pretending to be a gentleman by bidding her a goodnight. She smiled at him, and just when I thought thing couldn't have gotten anymore sickening, she kissed him on the cheek! The cheek for crying out loud! That was like centimeters away from the lips! I scowled when I heard his friends cheer in the background after Namine closed the door.

At that moment, I was walking to the door, which was a total mistake, because I crossed paths with the sleazebag himself. He was wearing his usual navy blue stocking cap on his head, with his uniform a disaster. His steely green eyes eyed me, and I returned his gaze with a vicious glare, and then he smirked at me.

"Did you know that your sister has very soft lips?" He mocked darkly walking past me.

I spun around to face his back and snarled "Don't talk about my sister that way you sick bastard…"

"Whatever El Kabong!" He laughed as he walked back to his group of friends, and as they walked away all three of them flicked me off. I glared at them all clenching my hands into fists as I stormed to the stoop of my house. As I reached for the knob of the door, muttering curses under my breath. I looked up at the sky, and then looked over my shoulder at the darkening giant house across from me.

There was a small light casting from the windows, which surprised me somewhat, because I had never seen that place lit up in any form or way before. While I gaping at that stream of light, I saw a dark silhouette standing close by that window staring back at me.

Nervously, I turned away slowly, trying escaping from its watchful gaze. Afraid that if I stared at him for too long, that something bad might happen. So I stood there for several minutes contemplating if I should see if the figure was there. And after much arguing with myself, I finally gathered enough courage to see if the silhouette was still there. I must have waited for far too long though, because when I looked back the light was gone, and so was the mysterious figure.

X-O-X-O

(End of Chapter)

Ta, da, well there you guys are the second chapter! I hoped you all enjoyed reading it, because for me it was pretty fun to type up. Oh and thanks for the reviews guys I'm glad you guys like it so far.

Anyways I hope your guy's winter breaks are going good, and that you all have a Happy New Year!

And thanks for reading!


	3. Fury

X-O-X-O

After seeing that spooky figure by the window, I had been trying to keep my mind off of the whole new neighbors' thing. Even though Demyx (mullet guy) was decent, I was still a little shifty about him.

Anyways I was at school again with my friends, and we were all sitting at a round lunch table bantering about random stuff. Hayner was all worked up about getting a C on his math test; and Olette was trying to calm him down. It made me laugh on the inside, because I think that Hayner liked Olette, because he turned as red as a tomato when she touched his arm. Pence was standing in line for a second helping of—something I couldn't identify, which is always nice. Anywho lunch was how it usually was, until Pence walked over to us looking quite surprised.

"What's up Pence?" I asked my wide eyed friend.

Pence stared at me for a long time with his brown eyes as wide as an owl's. It made me wonder if they ran out of food up there or something. Until, he suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders, his wide eyes staring into my confused ones.

"Pence, what the hell?" I asked confusion seeping in my tone.

"Roxas!" He echoed loud enough so that the whole student body could hear him "I didn't know you were adopted!"

It was just like the first time I heard it, my stomach churned, and I felt a need to crawl into a whole and die. Only this time I think it was worse, because everyone was staring at me. Hayner wasn't ranting about his grade, and Olette looked frozen stiff, I couldn't imagine how I looked then. Pence abruptly let go of my shoulders, covering his mouth with his hands.

"Um, I think I need some air." I muttered as I stood up from my chair, and with that I left the table. My friends didn't fallow, because they knew how much I hated it when people worried about me. I knew they were still worried, but I'd rather have them mentally concerned, than telling me that they were. I don't know why, but when someone I care about tells me they're worried about me it stresses me out.

I walked up to the roof of the school, and stood there for a while, taking in the cool spring air. It smelt fresh and clean, and it reminded me how happy I was that I wasn't sick anymore. I sat down on the cool cement floor, and looked up at the large, clear blue sky. I mentally patted myself on the back for going up here to just relax and forget about my problems. The only thing I wished though is that it lasted a little bit longer.

With a low creak I heard the door to the roof open, I sighed, there goes my peace and quiet. I sat up and looked over my shoulder, I expected to see somebody I recognized and I did however it wasn't someone I knew. There in front of me was the lengthy young man with the red thorny hair—as known as one of my creepy new neighbors.

He was wearing a black leather coat, snapping chewing gum like a fire cracker. I shifted uncomfortably on the cement, afraid that my previous predictions were true. _God have mercy on my soul _I begged to myself, staring at the redhead unblinkingly.

"Roxas Coleman I presume?" He quoted smacking his gum.

"Uh….yeah…." I replied shakily "W-who are you?"

"Axel Madison." He answered simply, walking over to me.

"Axel?" I repeated dumbly—not able to say anything else.

He nodded as he began to approach me "That's right A-X-E-L got it memorized?"

I scurried away from him on my hands and feet, doing some sort of awkward crab walk. Axel chuckled at me as he got closer; I looked around side to side for possible exits. I had two possible exits my first one was the door right at the corner of the building that was across from me; that I could run to easily if I was fast enough. My second exit was to jump off the roof, but to be honest I really wasn't planning on jumping off a four story building anytime soon.

Every time that I'd move away from him, Axel just took another step closer. Chills were running down my spine, as my gut kept telling me to run for the hills. Following my gut, I stood up and began to sprint over to the door as fast as I could, but then something caught my wrist. I was suddenly pulled back, and thrown onto the concrete, knocking the wind right outta me. Axel burst into a chuckle; I could just imagine how I looked—frazzled, and ready to get the hell out of here.

"Now, now don't run off on me now." He chided standing over me "After all we just met."

I gritted my teeth as he went on "I'm Axel Madison, and I am a part of an elite group called Organization 13—well technically it's Organization 12, but It'll soon be Organization 13 if…."

"If what?" I demanded my voice was cracking with nervousness.

Axel smiled crookedly holding out a hand towards me "If you decide to join."

Something in my system told me that joining his little group wasn't a good idea, and so I smacked his hand away from my face saying "What makes you think I want to join your stupid organization anyway?"

Axel's eyebrows rose; as if he was surprised by my action, but that didn't last long until he had that smug look on his face again.

"Well why wouldn't you?" He asked "We have so much to offer for you"

"Like what?" I spat in a pit annoyance.

"Power, glory, wealth, whatever you want just name it and you'll have it." Axel listed with a laugh.

"How?" I asked—not with curiosity, but it seemed too unrealistic, what did they do anyway? Axel smile grew a little bigger, as if he was getting amused by all my countless questions. He bent down close to me, and I wrinkled my nose slightly because he smelt like an ashtray.

"You'll just have to find out when you join." He said snidely, and right as he stood up again the bell began to ring. He looked over his shoulder at the door as if he was afraid someone would walk in on us. Then he turned back to me his smile not as big, but just as crooked.

"Well I better get going; otherwise you'll be late for your next class." He walked over to the door, resting his hand on the chrome handle "It was very nice to meet you Roxas I'm glad that I got to meet you at least once." Then with that He walked out the door.

I sat there motionless for a moment, until I scrambled to my feet, and began to chase after him. However when I ran back inside, I believed that I was just fast enough, that I'd catch him at the bottom of the staircase—he was gone.

_Impossible_ I thought my hands latched onto the railing with my head craned downward. _How the heck did he walk down all those flights of stairs that fast?_ I pondered to myself _unless he ran or something_…. I shook my head, even if he ran down the stairs; I'd still be able to catch him. My hands trailed lightly on the silver railing to the staircase. _Even if he ran I probably would have still caught him at some point down the road_ I thought as I began to walk down the stairs. I continued thinking, until I heard the bell ring.

I sighed "Great….all that thinking made me late for class."

I jogged over to my locker, and twisted my combination as fast as I could; and as soon as it opened I gathered my books, and headed to my next class.

X-O-X-O

After school I was in a terrible mood, which completely contrasted with my mood that I had yesterday. Let me explain why—my fifth hour teacher is a total B-I-T-C-H. Now that we have that down crystal clear I'll tell you what happened. I walked into class, as quietly as I could, because my teacher was right in the middle of a lecture. So I thought if I didn't make a sound I could just squeeze right into class and blend right into the crowd, because that was one of my greatest talents.

Anyways that didn't work so well, because my teacher stopped abruptly when I pulled out my chair. I was confidently, believing that I was in the clear, but boy was I wrong, I was as clear as mud. Since right when I sat down my literature teacher stopped in mid lecture just to stare down at me and say.

"_It's nice of you to join us Mr. Coleman."_

I frowned at her, because I knew when teachers said that, they really didn't think it was great to come to class. It was more on the lines of—you interrupted me when I was talking ya little shit, now I'm going to embarrass you in front of the entire class.

_I smiled meekly at her "It's nice to be in class Mrs. Sanders."_

I shuddered as I walked home, because I couldn't believe she was married. Who in the right mind would marry the wicked witch of the west? Certainly not one of her students—meaning me, that's for sure. And as if that wasn't enough she had to go on and say.

"_Just so you know Mr. Coleman, only delinquents are late for class." She scoffed in the most disgusted way she could._ Just so that I'd feel guilty about being late, but I actually wasn't—in all honesty I wouldn't mind being twenty more minutes late, because I hated Mrs. Crab Ass so much. Excuse my French, but when I'm mad I tend to do a lot of cussing, more at myself. However today seemed like a perfect day for me to blame someone else for a change.

_Anyway I just shrugged my shoulders "I guess a lot of people are delinquents Mrs. Sanders."_

"_I guess so." She said venomously, turning away from me to write down our next extremely strenuous assignment on the white board, which she liked to give out on a regular basis._ I think it's because she likes to see the pain and misery in the eyes of young children. So I guess I could chalk that up as another thing that put me in a bad mood as well.

I rubbed my temples, causing my backpack to slip off my shoulder slightly. I straightened it up slightly as I continued my walk home, inwardly hoping that nothing weird would happen. Just my luck though, that something did happen, but it wasn't weird it was just to be expected.

"S-Seifer let go of me!" I heard an all too familiar voice cry out. This caused me to look over to the side at a small, forsaken park; that I used to go to when I was younger. I could see Namine lying on the ground; struggling against Seifer who was on top of her pinning her wrists above her head. Immediately when I witnessed the scene; I dropped my knapsack and started running towards them.

Seifer had her pinned on the grass right between the monkey bars and the swing set. Namine was doing her best trying to get away; by kicking and trying to wiggle away from his grasp. However none of her attempts worked, because Seifer had great upper body strength. I could see that he hands were trying to get under her shirt, which just made me run even faster. I only stumbled once when I was running, because I was running down a small hill. However I hastily recuperated, and began running again.

"Get off of her you fucking beast!" I shouted getting Seifer's attention right away. His snake-like green eyes traveled over to my direction; a glow of irritation showed as he bared his teeth at me. Namine noticed me as well, because she stopped her squirming to look at me.

"Roxas—mmmph!" She cried out to me before Seifer covered her mouth with his hand; that he was going to use to explore her chest.

"So, little Nami's big brother is coming to rescue her? Oh wait—"Seifer chuckled "I almost forgot—you're not her brother."

I glared at him "Shut the hell up, and let the girl go or I'll, I'll…." I trailed off not knowing a good threat.

"You'll what?" Seifer prompt with a sinister smirk on his face.

"Or I'll…." I continued one of my hands unconsciously my hand was digging into my coat pocket. As if it was looking for something useful to use as a weapon. However the only thing that I could use as a weapon was my cell phone, but I didn't see how that could be useful. Until the wheels in my head started turning, and an idea formulated inside of my head. I mentally thanked my overly protective mother for making me carry this thing around all the time. Hastily I flipped my phone open, and stabbed the button for menu in my pocket.

I'm not much of a fighter, because I wasn't a bodybuilder like Seifer; I was rather tall and lean. However I had something that Seifer never bothered in using that much; and that my friends is a brain.

Seifer laughed at me "Some hero don't ya think Namine?"

Seifer looked down at the blonde girl that began to struggle again, and at that moment I pulled out my phone and took about ten—maybe twenty pictures. I wasn't sure, because I just kept on hitting the go button as many times as I could. Just, so that I had more photos of the scene that was right in front of me.

"What are you doing!" Seifer yelled finally noticing the flash of the camera.

"Blackmail." I merely replied.

"Why you…." He was about to get up; before I said.

"One more move, and I'll send this picture to everyone in school." I threatened.

Seifer narrowed his eyes at me "You wouldn't dare…."

I stabbed onto the mail button on my phone ready to send the picture. Seifer sat there frozen, while I stood there keeping a sober expression on my face, as I took another step back; just for a safety precaution. I was happy to know that none of his goons were around to ambush me from behind. I almost smiled as evilly as he had before.

"Get off the girl." I instructed firmly.

Seifer obeyed standing up, and stepping over the girl so that he was walking backwards with his hands up.

"Now…get the hell out of my sight." I said indicating some random direction with my phone, which he did of course. He scrabbled off into the distance; I was pretty sure that he was going to go home and sulk or something. I sighed in relief once he was gone, as I saved the picture on my phone for future use. Then I looked down at Namine, whom was now curled up in a ball on the ground sobbing.

I walked over to her and knelt down beside her, while stuffing my cell phone into my pocket.

"Are you okay?" I asked kind of awkwardly as I placed a hand on her shoulder and shook it softly to get her attention. Namine rubbed her eyes trying to get a hold of her emotions. She was muttering things to herself like _'I should have known'_ and _'I'm such an idiot' _then she began to hiccup. I tried to get her attention again by shaking her shoulder a bit.

"Namine?" I called softly, but then I was suddenly startled when abruptly Namine sat up and swung her arms around me. My eyes widened at the compact; as I fell back onto my bottom. My shoulders arched upward slightly; as my whole body stiffened, because it was very rare when nowadays that Namine and I have ever shown any intimacy towards one another. However as much as it startled me; I wasn't so surprised when Namine began to cry again.

I always hated that _ugh _I thought_ why do girls always have to do that anyway? _I wondered to myself. It always made me feel ill whenever anyone; especially a girl cried, because I almost always never know what to do in this situations. Besides trying not to get involved, but I knew that wasn't going to help in this case, damn it.

"Oh, Roxas thank you so much….hic….I don't know what I would have done….hic…without you." She sniffled clinging onto my jacket now. I placed my hands on her shoulders and pushed her back as gently as I could so that she didn't get the wrong signal and started to bawl again.

I cleared my throat "Well duh, I'll always protect you, ya idiot."

Thankfully, for my sake Namine didn't start crying again, so when I looked back I didn't glomped again. Instead I got sent a gentle, sweet almost cute (but I was never going to admit that) from Namine.

"I'm glad some things never change." She said softly, and I gave her a meaningful look as I stood up, and extended my hand towards her.

"Come on, let's go home." I said, still smiling at me she took my hand; and I pulled her to her feet. Unconsciously I held her hand, and dragged her over to my backpack. Almost immediately when I noticed I was still holding her hand I let go, and picked up my backpack and swung it over my shoulder.

"You didn't bring anything here, did you?" I asked her as we began to walk up the little stooped hill.

Namine shook her head "No—Oh, no wait I did—hang on."

"Hurry up, or I'll leave you behind!" I shouted after her as she began to run down the little hill again.

Namine jogged over to the monkey bars again; where she was almost raped. Then she bent down, I wondered if she realized how short her skirt was, and then I grimaced at the thought. She picked up a brown worn out book that was lying on the ground and ran back. At first I didn't recognize it, but the more I thought about it, I remembered that I gave that to her as a birthday present one year.

It was sketch book; that's cover you could use over and over, because you could put paper inside of it. Anyway it was just a brown book with some fancy designs on it that I got at a thrift store. Only because it was insanely cheap; and also, because my mom and dad refused to buy her a different sketchpad every time she finished one. And she seemed to be really upset about that, and I felt bad so I got her that book so that she only had to get paper. Anyway I'm just surprised that she still has it, because it's all faded and brittle looking.

"Alright we can go now." Namine said hugging the sketchpad closely to her chest.

I nodded as I lead us both home; I was almost certain that we were late for dinner now. I never did bother to scold Namine about Seifer, because I felt that there really was nothing to be said. Since I was pretty sure if I said 'I told you so' she'd just comeback with 'no you didn't' which was true, because I never did try to get involved with her affairs. Only because I never really wanted to, but I guess that really isn't the point. The point is that it is over, and that I was happy that she wouldn't be lip smacking with Seifer's filthy cheek anymore.

X-O-X-O

When we finally got home; Namine and I kicked off our shoes, Namine ran up stairs to put her sketchpad away. While me on the other hand; went straight to the kitchen. To my surprise mom was just setting the table; I sighed in relief as I walked in and took my seat at the table.

"Hey Roxy, how was your day at school?" Mom asked using my pet name, as she walked into the kitchen.

I scrunched my nose up as she said it saying "Fine…what's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs." My mom replied cheerfully, while straining the noodles over the sink.

I rubbed my growling stomach almost drooling as I responded "That sounds good."

My mom smiled and nodded as she took out a pot to put the strained noodles in, and then walked into the dining and set them down. While she was doing that, my mom asked me to bring out the garlic bread, which of course I did. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the white saucer that had the bred on it. Then I went back into the dining room, and as I set the plate down, strangely, I noticed that there were only three plates at the table, and that even a chair was missing. My parents each had a plate on their sides of the table, and there was one at mine, but there wasn't one at Namine's.

"Hey mom I think you forgot something." I said sitting back at my chair.

My mom's expression went from confused to shock "Oh, I almost forgot to get the sauce!"

Before I could correct her my mom was already in the kitchen grabbing a heat pad. I shook my head as my mom came back into the dining room with the spaghetti sauce. My dad soon walked into the dining room, and took his spot beside me; asking me his daily question of….

"How was your day, sport?"

"Crummy…" I said blandly even though what I wanted to say was it was hell, I hate my literature teacher she's such a fucking bitch!

"Yeah, school can be that way sometimes." My dad nodded.

I inwardly sighed as I looked down at my plate, and then across at the empty spot at the table. That wasn't so empty now, because my mom had placed the pan of spaghetti sauce there. My mom soon sat down beside me, and with a bright grin on her face she chanted.

"Let's eat!"

As my dad began to grab some noodles for himself, and my mom was taking a few slices of garlic bread I began asking "Mom—what about….."

I trailed off slightly when I saw Namine walk into the dining room; her gaze traveled over to the empty spot at the table. A hurt and confused expression crossed her face; as she walked into the kitchen. She began to rummage around in the freezer, and pulled out one of those cheap T.V. dinners. As she was unwrapping that I looked over to side to side at my parents, and neither of them were looking at Namine. I wasn't sure if either of them cared or not, because both of them continued to fill their plates.

Usually when I tried to skip out on a meal my mom would have a fit, and tell me how hard she worked on this meal, however the way my mom was acting it was like she'd rather not have Namine at the table. I wondered if it would be a good idea to say something, but being the coward I was I didn't say a word. Namine soon l left the kitchen with her meal, and I still had yet to put something on my plate.

"Roxas, aren't you hungry?" My mom asked with concern in her eyes.

_Oh, sure she's worried about me but not Namine_ I thought as I narrowed my eyes at the blank saucer in front of me. I don't know why, but I kept thinking that this had something to do with what Ansem have said when he dropped the bomb on me.

"I'm the favorite…." I murmured under my breath.

"What was that Roxas?" My dad asked me looking confused "Is there something wrong?"

"Uh….." I trailed shaking my head, and then I quickly scooped myself up some noodles onto my plate muttering "Nothing, nothing just talking to myself is all."

My dad chuckled slightly as he slapped me on the back playfully but painfully; causing me to let out an 'oof' noise when he did it. My mom smiled at me taking my plate from my hands and drizzling spaghetti sauce over the noodles.

"That's good, because we wouldn't want anything to happen to our _favorite_ boy." My mom said her tone dripping with sweetness; as she set my plate in front of me gently. I smiled weakly at her as I looked back down at my plate of food, and tried to eat without feeling nauseated.

X-O-X-O

After dinner I went up stairs to my room, ready to do some of that homework the hag from hell gave me today. As I walked up stairs though I stopped when I ran into Namine; she was carrying her T.V. dinner. I assumed that she was probably going to go and throw it out, but the dinner wasn't really what concerned me. Rather, it was the ghastly look on her face; was it possible for someone as pale as a ghost to get any paler?

I decided I should ask her "Hey Namine are you okay, you look a little pale?"

"I feel a little sick from the meal." She responded hollowly.

"Should I tell mom?" I asked my concern growing "She'll probably—"

Namine shook her head vigorously "No—No please don't tell her—or dad I'm fine, _really_ I am."

I frowned at her "You don't look fine."

Namine sighed at me "Just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay, but if you throw up; don't blame me." I stated crossing my arms.

"Thanks Roxas." She said giving me a genuine smile.

"But—"I drawled before she walked away "In return tell me what's going on with mom and dad."

Namine shrugged her puny shoulders; looking up at me with apologetic eyes "Sorry but I know as much as you do."

I sighed at her "So nothing then?"

Namine turned around, and I lifted my hand off her shoulder back to my side again "Not unless you haven't heard that you're the favorite."

"That again?" I grumbled slumping forward "What does that even mean?"

Namine looked down at her little black plastic tray, and then her gaze traveled up to me. She looked a bit hungry, which made me feel bad, because I was stuffed from that spaghetti. _What if this favorite thing does have to do with the meal thing _I asked myself, but my thoughts were dashed when Namine started to speak.

"Could it be that you're the favorite in the family Roxas?"

X-O-X-O

(End of Chapter)

Finally I finished this chapter, and I'm sorry that it took so long, but I haven't been going onto the computer all that much "smiles sheepishly" since it's the end of the semester at my school, and I have a lot of work to do. Not that I'm behind or anything, but there are a lot of projects and stuff. Anyways moving from the boring stuff I hoped you liked this chapter, and thanks a lot for the reviews!

You guys rock my socks off!

Anyway thanks for reading!


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